How do I find a word?

There are two ways to look up a word in the dictionary:

Find Word search

A quick search which finds main dictionary entries, such as alphabet, break, xylophone. It also finds subordinate entries such as the phrase in alphabet, or compounds such as alphabet book. The search form is located at the top-right of the browser window.

• Using a Find Word search

Full Text search

A full search of the entire Dictionary text. It finds your term wherever it occurs in the Dictionary. This could be in the form of an entry name, part of another word's definition, in a quotation, etc. A Full Text search also allows you to confine your search to a particular area of text (e.g. definition or quotation text) and to search for words that occur near one another (e.g. Dickens before Drood). The search form is displayed by clicking the button. A Full Text search form with more advanced features is displayed by clicking the button.

• Using a Full Text search